As of November 12, 2025
In May of this year, I “finished” revising the manuscript for my debut novel. It had been roughly two years from the time my story idea was born. I will always remember that journey, much like parenting our first child, I learned “on the job” lesson after lesson. Trial by fire. I changed POVs, verb tense, and timeline structure again and again. When my husband heard me musing about going back through another big change, he questioned my sanity. I told him it was like moving furniture around in a room. I am just not sure it’s right quite yet.
I wish I could tell you that the job is complete. Done. Finito. But the truth is that it might have served a different purpose. It’s shelved for now. I have ideas of revising it. But after so much tweaking and readjusting it just felt like the right time to set it aside.
For the last eleven weeks I have been in the throes of writing my next book. It is a domestic suspense thriller. Think of Agatha Christie’s And Then There Were None closed mystery with characters like the Real Housewives on Bravo. Messy characters, drama, a murder, and multiple people with motives. It was the genre that called to me when I signed up for an 8 week course called Notes to Novel.
I realized that I needed to go through the whole novel writing process from start to finish with instruction and coaching. It was exactly what I needed at the right time. I have a theme, character arcs, and forty scenes mapped out in colored index cards on the wall in my writing room. I was more of a pantser than a plotter before taking this class.
That is my update for now. I’ll be writing my rough draft using the notes on those index cards. I am nowhere near the finish line, but I’m off to a great start. I will keep you posted.
As of March 31, 2024
I am approaching the final stage of writing the first draft of my novel. That means I am deep into my Google Docs moving around scenes and working on the pacing. It has been an exciting time creatively. The next step will be editing and revising. I must admit it that it feels pretty great to tally up my word count and realize I am not just spinning my wheels. It is adding up to something! I look forward to sharing my progress with you in the near future. The genre I am writing in is one of my favorites to read: Contemporary fiction that deals with relationships of family, friends and a little romance. Anyone who knows me also knows that I like to look at the humor in situations, so my novel features relatable characters who are dealing with challenges that touch the heart and the funny bone. I am learning it is not a sprint, but I am in this for the distance. My next update may include an excerpt. Stay tuned.
